Indigenous Peoples’ Day at Emory & Henry College
Emory & Henry Family,
Please join the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion as we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Emory & Henry’s campus. Many states, government agencies and other colleges and universities have shifted away from observing Columbus
Day, recognizing the many contributions of the Indigenous people to our society. The Native Americans have often been overlooked as First Peoples and although we can never adequately compensate them for cruel and unusual punishment and the injustices done to them by early colonizers and settlers, we will honor their legacy as they have made American great from the inception.
Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since 1934. In 1990, the state of South Dakota officially renamed Columbus Day to Native America’s Day to shift the focus from Columbus to the Indigenous People of South Dakota. We will no longer celebrate the “discovery” of a part of the world we know had been previous inhabited by people for hundreds of years preceding.
The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion joins at least 14 states, including our own state Virginia and the District of Columbia in the official celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Genocide, stolen land and an attempt to erase the presence of the Indigenous Peoples in America will not be forgotten, however
we can celebrate the identity, culture, history and herstory of the Indigenous people living then and now in America.
We celebrate and honor the Native American peoples and commemorate their historical and herstorical contributions to the United States!
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